The misty white fog dispersed a little.
"Splash."
An indistinct figure rose from the thin mist.
"Give me my robes, Bellatrix."
A clear voice rang out, slightly different from the voice Voldemort had used earlier.
Everyone stood rooted to the spot. Only Bellatrix let out a delighted cry, grabbed the robes she had prepared long ago, and rushed into the mist.
"And also, Albus, I didn't like that joke you made just now, because...
"It sounded like a curse."
The clear voice spoke again. Abou, standing not far from Dumbledore, burst out laughing.
Dumbledore shrugged and said to the two figures in the mist, "Tom Riddle, that was your original name. Are you planning to abandon it completely?"
"Give me the monocle. And wait, Bellatrix—I'll put the robes on when I come out."
Voldemort in the mist didn't get angry at hearing that name. He first spoke to Bellatrix, then emerged from the cauldron amid the sound of splashing water.
"Tom Riddle. It's been a long time since I used that name, Albus. I'll keep Riddle; it's a link to my past self. As for Tom..."
He paused. The faint rustle of clothing came from within the mist.
"Forget it. It would make me think of the old man at the Leaky Cauldron. From now on, I'll be called Voldemort Riddle. It's a good name, and it's complete."
As he spoke, the figure in the mist waved his wand.
"Whoosh."
A breeze blew from the center of the mist, dispersing it in an instant.
A handsome young man in his twenties stood there, with black hair and eyes and a monocle over his left eye.
He was younger than the Voldemort from before, and more handsome, too.
Most of all, he felt real, unlike the insubstantial figure he had been